God has, in this tale, come down to the summit of Mount Sinai, deep in the desert of Negev. Moses goes up the mountain to obtain God’s instructions. The authors of the book of Exodus describe this process as one with thunder, fire and smoke to impress the Israelites; indeed, failure to attempt to see God will result in being stoned to death. God demands obedience as he prepares them to receive the cornerstone of biblical law, the Ten Commandments. But before enumerating these laws, God lays out his rules: it is God and only the one God who has brought Israel out of slavery and is preparing them to be a nation. Failure to accept God’s terms will result in generational slaughter. Then the commandments can be given to an obedient people.

First Corinthians 1:18 -25

The city of Corinth was a town of a wide range of people, not only of Jews and Gentiles, but of many life experiences. Prized among them was the gift of oratory, of the ability to expound on the issues of the day. These expressions were ,collectively, wisdom. In the Old Testament wisdom is a human virtue, a capacity to know and explain issues of life; it is a positive value in Corinth. But to Paul, wisdom can be much more a negative feeling. Thus, in this reading Paul attempts to separate himself, his teaching, from Corinthian wisdom. Paul contrasts the crucifixion with wisdom. Paul claims the shameful death on the cross was God’s way of showing power, and this “foolishness” demonstrated the true wisdom of salvation through Christ; it is not the wisdom of the age.

John 2:13-22

In contrast to each of the Synoptic Gospels which place Jesus’ act of cleansing the Jerusalem Temple grounds during his last week on earth, the Gospel of John inserts this story early in the ministry, indeed immediately after the wedding at Cana. Perhaps John locates this action so early in his Gospel to demonstrate the gift of God’s presence in Jesus and thus the challenge that it brings to the ways of the world. In destroying the normal preparation for the Passover, Jesus completely disrupts the traditional preparing for the sacrifice. Then speaking metaphorically of a three-day rebuilding, Jesus proclaims the new temple is his body, to be buried and rise again in three days. In Jewish practice the Temple is God’s home; Jesus is the new Temple, the new place of God.

Continuing the extended story of Abram and Sarai and the promises of Yahweh, here God almighty, El Shaddai, establishes a covenant with Abram and changes his name to Abraham. The covenant bestows on Abraham the title of Founder or Master of the race that is to follow. God, in these verses is announcing that he is always ready to come into relationship with the community of his people, and to effect the rise of a covenantal people. God changes Abraham’s wife’s name from Sarai to Sarah and promises the elderly couple a son.

Romans 4: 13-25

Paul now explains his interpretation of the Genesis story of God’s promises to Abraham: in his reasoning the covenant of promise came to Abraham before circumcision, before he became subject to the law. Therefore, the covenant is not restricted to Jews, but is open to Gentiles as well. Thus, the relationship God sought with his particular people, the Jews, is real for all people, for all nations. It is by faith in God and in Jesus Christ that the salvific promises of God are made real to us all.

Mark 8: 31-38

Now fully into his ministry of teaching and healing, Jesus turns to clearly preparing his disciples for his passion. Believing the Messiah to have supernatural powers to put down the oppression Rome has inflicted, the disciples are shocked at Jesus’ words that he must suffer and die at the hands of Jewish authority. Quite naturally, Peter objects; this is not his understanding of the Messiah. But Jesus will have none of this surface thinking It will take several more tellings of the forthcoming passion before the disciples begin to understand

The flood that eliminated all the visible world, that would save Noah, his family and selected animals is over; it is time, to populate the earth The priestly writer transmits God’s covenant that never again will life be summarily extinguished. And this promise of God applies not only to Israel, but to all nations that will arise. The sign of the covenant is the “bow in the clouds”, the rainbow, a dramatic sign that both God and man can see.

First Peter 3: 18-22

The New Testament letter attributed to Simon Peter follows the classic form of letters of the times, although it does not seem to be written to an individual. Indeed this passage is an example of liturgical writing, a hymn that in a few lines telescopes the view of the sacrifice of Jesus and its direct connection to the God of Noah, his ark, and the flood which has become the baptism of salvation for all who believe.

Mark 1: 9-15

Continuing the theme of water, John baptizes Jesus in the Jordan, signifying the continuation of prophetic will that John the Baptist delivers as the carrying clarion cry of a new promise from God in Jesus Christ. John has done his anointed job; it is now the hour of Jesus. But preparation is required; a time of deprivation, of solace we now imitate in this Lent, lays the ground for Jesus’ salvation ministry.

Lesson for the first Sunday of Lent, February 18, 2018

Genesis 9:8-17

The flood that eliminated all the visible world, that would save Noah, his family and selected animals is over; it is time, to populate the earth The priestly writer transmits God’s covenant that never again will life be summarily extinguished. And this promise of God applies not only to Israel, but to all nations that will arise. The sign of the covenant is the “bow in the clouds”, the rainbow, a dramatic sign that both God and man can see.

First Peter 3: 18-22

The New Testament letter attributed to Simon Peter follows the classic form of letters of the times, although it does not seem to be written to an individual. Indeed this passage is an example of liturgical writing, a hymn that in a few lines telescopes the view of the sacrifice of Jesus and its direct connection to the God of Noah, his ark, and the flood which has become the baptism of salvation for all who believe.

Mark 1: 9-15

Continuing the theme of water, John baptizes Jesus in the Jordan, signifying the continuation of prophetic will that John the Baptist delivers as the carrying clarion cry of a new promise from God in Jesus Christ. John has done his anointed job; it is now the hour of Jesus. But preparation is required; a time of deprivation, of solace we now imitate in this Lent, lays the ground for Jesus’ salvation ministry.

As in much of the Books of Kings, this is a story of succession, prophetic succession followed by royal succession. Told in a story of a journey, prophetic leadership in the northern Kingdom of Israel is here passed on from Elijah to Elisha. The journey narrative seems to reflect the opposite of the one Joshua led, beginning at the Jordan, moving Israel into Canaan. Elijah now returns to the Jordan River for the succession to Elisha and for his dramatic ascent to Heaven. In three stages of the journey Elisha swears his loyalty to Elijah and at the end, receives Elijah’s mantle, the symbol of authority.

II Second Letter Paul to the Church in Corinth 4: 3-6

In the background of Paul’s letter to Corinth is his fear of a second unhealthy Gospel being preached there by unknown visitors. It concerns him greatly. This presence, the “God of this world” is dangerous; it must be opposed so that Paul’s Gospel may be heard and understood. Paul’s Gospel is not his own, of course; it is Jesus Christ as Lord.

Mark 9: 2-9

In each of the lectionary years, A, B &C, one of the Synoptic Gospel stories of the Transfiguration is read on the Sunday before Lent. This year it is from Mark. The Luke pericope is read again on the 6th of August, the Feast of the Transfiguration. “Transfiguration” means the changing of shape or appearance. The startling vision of Jesus with Moses and Elijah must have thrown the disciples for a loop and given

Chapter 40 of Isaiah begins the good news of deliverance for the inhabitants of Judah. Babylon has fallen, Persia has risen, Jerusalem will rise from the ashes of 587 BCE. The prophet Isaiah sees these conditions as emancipation for Judah, as Yahweh intervenes for the exilic people detained in Babylon or scattered about the lands of the Mediterranean. Today ‘s verses chide Israel for their loss of belief in Yahweh; “Yahweh”, he says, “is the foundation, the ground of being.” In his metaphoric and poetic words, Isaiah claims the absolute supremacy of Yahweh and the corresponding submission of temporary earthly rulers. The poetic expressions continue, praising Yahweh as the savior of Judah and the only hope of their future.

I Corinthians 9: 16-23

Paul pauses from his response to the inquiries of Corinth to state his own understanding, his own position as a Christian, as an apostle for Christ. His job is clearly the preaching of Christ and he is able to do this without remuneration. The turning to Christ by some those hearing him is Paul’s only reward. In his work he is very adaptable; he notes he can follow Jewish dietary rules and act as if under the law even though he is no longer bound to the law. He can also eat and live among Gentiles, if it will further his teaching of the Gospel. Christ’s Gospel is first and foremost; it is the only thing that matters.

Mark I: 29 -39

Having left the initial experience of startling the members of his first synagogue reading, Jesus moves on to his public ministry in Galilee. Here he cures the mother of Simon Peter who lives in a complex of rooms adjacent to the synagogue. Quite naturally, the disciples decide to go out from Capernaum to bring the sick and possessed to Jesus for healing. No longer is Jesus relegated to a single work of healing; the whole area rapidly understood they had a most unusual man in their midst. And far from discouraging his disciples from shielding him from the public, Jesus welcomes the task of teaching and healing, knowing this was his task from the Father.

Mention of the book of Jonah invariably brings forth the imaginative story of the whale and Jonah’s disappearance into its inner sanctum. But the book of this prophet is concerned much more with the “scandal of God’s mercy”, of Jonah’s refusal to accept God’s love for a repentant people. Jonah is a prophet on the run from God. In the series of events that this book covers, Jonah tries his best to avoid God. Told first to go to Nineveh, he takes passage instead on a ship to Tarshish. God responds with a huge storm, throwing Jonah into the sea and into the famous fish which God provided. With Jonah back on land, God for the second time demands that Jonah to go to Nineveh to pronounce its destruction. But Nineveh responds with repentance so God changes his mind ; Nineveh will not be destroyed. But Jonah is angry with God; God’s decision to pardon the city means to Jonah his prophetic role is a failure. Jonah is unconvinced, but we who read this yarn should see in it the witness of God’s mercy.

I Corinthians 7: 29 -31

Paul’s reasoning for these few verses is certainly not clear from the text itself. Commentaries give several possible reasons for his opinion. Paul is writing primarily to engaged couples, the young women betrothed to older men. When he writes, “The appointed time has grown short”, he may be referring to the immanent return of Christ, expected any day now. Or, at the time of Paul’s letter, Corinth may be experiencing a serious famine. In either case, Paul is recommending couples not to proceed to marry and others to concentrate on what they have and not on what they desire.

Mark 1: 14-20

Continuing Jesus’ call to men of Galilee to join him. today’s Gospel tells us of four fishermen working on the sea, casting their nets and repairing them; “Come, leave your work, your families and follow me”, Jesus says. It was a simple command yet one that would drastically change their lives and, later, those of the world. Jesus asks Simon, Andrew, James and John to come fish for people instead of the residents of the sea. These men were not volunteers; they were conscripted to the service of God on earth and later to the founding of the Christian faith.

Roughly halfway in time, between the call of Abraham, the father of Israel, and the birth of Jesus, comes this story of the rise of Samuel. The Hebrew Bible stories of this period, of Hannah, Samuel, Saul and David reveal God and his way of bringing his word to that world. Samuel lived at a time of moral and political chaos; Israel no longer a nomadic people had become both agrarian and urban. There was no central authority; its judges, its leadership, were temporary; when the threat to its survival was over, they faded into the sunset. Samuel was an apprentice priest, bound to a tribal priest, Eli. He had been born of Hannah and grew with purpose under the presence of God. The aging priest, Eli, came slowly to understand that God had chosen Samuel to be his prophet amid the many problems at Shiloh, the seat of worship of the time, and this story today recounts Samuel’s rise in God’s favor, to change the direction of the people’s faith.

Paul’s First Letter to the church at Corinth: 6: 12-20

Douglas Campbell, of Duke Divinity School, writing in the current ChristianCentury, describes the Christian community at Corinth as a mess. He counts fifteen “distinguishable problems” which Paul addresses in this letter. They included incest, prostitution, marriage without divorce, remarriage, idolatry, inequality and celibacy within a marriage among others. Campbell maintains that Paul is urging something quite simple on the Corinthians – a basic appeal of “appropriate relating”, an appeal to the community to see their neighbors as Christ’s people, as persons who live under the gift of Jesus Christ. He quotes a later chapter of the letter, “Love is patient, love is kind —- .” Corinth was a rough place to exist; it was eat of the available fruit or be eaten. Paul urges the community to reject this barren way of life and rebuild a moral society.

John 1: 43-1

Today’s Gospel is a part of John’s description of the gathering of the disciples. The Gospel uses the phrase of recognition, “We have found the Messiah, the Anointed One.” First there was Andrew and Simon Peter. Next it was Philip and Nathaniel, the Gospel says, who approach this new figure from Nazareth and Jesus calls them to follow him. It was John the Baptist who first witnessed the coming of the Savior who understood the Word of God in Jesus and led new disciples to him. Jesus says, “Come and see”, a pattern to be repeated throughout the Gospel. Yet people, including the disciples, will continue to struggle with understanding Jesus’ real identity.

]]>http://www.miltcoleman.com/lessons-for-epiphany-ii-january-14-2018/feed/0Lessons for the First Sunday after the Epiphany, January 7, 2018http://www.miltcoleman.com/lessons-for-the-first-sunday-after-the-epiphany-january-7-2018/
http://www.miltcoleman.com/lessons-for-the-first-sunday-after-the-epiphany-january-7-2018/#commentsWed, 03 Jan 2018 01:19:22 +0000http://www.miltcoleman.com/?p=463Read More...]]>Genesis 1:1-5

Of the two stories of the Creation in the Book of Genesis, today’s description of the very first day is from the priestly source, written probably about the sixth century during the Babylonian exile. A theological statement rather than a scientific treatise, this lesson emphasizes a basic element of life, that of light as opposed to darkness, thus the two elements of time, day and night.

Acts of the Apostles 19: 1-7

Luke’s story of the development of the church today recalls Paul’s visit to Ephesus, the cultural and religious center of Asia Minor. The story notes that Paul comes upon a group of men, probably followers of John the Baptist, twelve and called disciples but undoubtedly disciples of John not Jesus. It is now known that John’s “movement” existed alongside that of Jesus on the first century. Luke now makes the significant point that John baptized for repentance and to announce the coming of Jesus. John’s disciples are thus newly baptized by Paul receiving the Holy Spirit, previously unknown to them. With this new force of understanding they added to the continuing rise of the faith

Mark 1: 4-11

The Gospel this morning further marks the separation between John’s baptism of repentance and his baptism of Jesus as the coming Messiah of the Jews. Mark goes to some length to emphasize the difference in these baptisms, using phrases of “Heavens torn apart” and “Spirit like a dove”, together with God’s approbation, “My son”, thus in Mark’s Gospel leaving no doubt as to who this man Jesus is to the world. Yet why was Jesus baptized as others were by John for repentance of their sins, given that Jesus was without sin? Mark basically ignores this delicate theological point, apparently believing his readers, years later, will simply understand the progression without doubt.

I thought I would say something this morning about the church calendar, about the seasons of the church. We have just finished with Advent and are in the middle of Christmas. And now we’re on to Epiphany. Where did these seasons come from and why separate the year into these periods?

You are all familiar with the term liturgical year. The most important day of the year is of course, Black Friday, followed closely by Cyber Monday. Then we have tonight New Year’s Eve, a celebration of getting rid of the bad old year, a night of champagne to welcome a much better new year.

Another month away is that ceremonial day of the American Republic, Super Bowl Sunday, when well paid grown men crush each other for the benefit of local orthopedic hospitals. Next in line is Ground Hog Day which determines the future of skiing and skating in our wintery climes. In New England in April there is Patriot’s Day when Paul Revere rode to Lexington and Concord to get the Minutemen out of the taverns. In the spring we have that all-time favorite, Mother’s Day, also known as flower and restaurant day, and in the fall, Halloween, where we greatly support the dental profession by handing out Snickers and Peanut Butter cups.

Some of the reasons for these liturgical days are fine indeed – to remember those who brought us into this world and to provide a focus for the customs and events that make up our lives. And, of course, some of the basis for these celebrations has to do with selling us more stuff, more cruises in the Caribbean, more nights in restaurants and bars.

This liturgical year helps to anchor our common life, to provide excitement and pleasure, to connect us to friends and family, and keep our history in order.

Which, come to think of it, is not that different from the purpose of the church liturgical year in which we remember our Lord and what he did for us and what the church means in daily life.

The Church year or Liturgical year is an overlay of the secular year; it’s intended to commemorate and remind us regularly of the saving deeds God accomplished in Jesus Christ. The Whole mystery of Christ from his Incarnation to the day of Pentecost is recalled by the church each calendar year. It also helps to keep us on course in our temporary lives, to help us focus our existence on God and the kingdom of God on earth.

Before their were Christians there were, of course, Jews. The Jewish calendar began with the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week. The Sabbath or day of rest and no labor dates back at least to the exile in Babylon and it reflects of course the Genesis story of creation. Orthodox, observant Jews still observe and practice the Sabbath. The day is one of contemplation, of prayer and remembrance. In addition to the Sabbath a number of commemorations have become the basis for the Jewish liturgical year. In the early days, periods of time were set aside to give thanks for the harvest, for a good year in the vineyards, for rain and reduced infestations. The purpose of these these agrarian feasts gradually shifted over time to remember important events in the life of the people.

For example, the eight day festival of Hanukah which was just two weeks ago, was originally a celebration for the dedication of the restored temple in Jerusalem; today it is a happy time like Christmas with the giving of gifts and, interestingly, it is a celebration of Jewish military prowess in the state of Israel.

By comparison, in this country, we have the former Decoration Day, a day set aside to remember the enormous number of soldiers who died in the Civil War. Much later the day became Memorial Day to include the dead in wars since. Then there is Armistice Day, a remembrance of those lost in World War One; that day became Veterans Day. So change in meaning of these commemorations happens often.

The Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar and all their seasonal feasts are governed by the moon. Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot are seasons of repentance and they, with Hanukah, pretty much define the Jewish year. The Jewish calendar contains days and periods that remind its people of the Covenant and the promises God made long ago. To some extent, the Christian calendar does the same thing.

Tomorrow is January 1 in our present calendar. Long before Jesus was born, the first day of the New Year was March 1st. When that old parliamentarian Julius Caesar came along, he moved it to January 1. But in Gaul and later France it stayed March 1st as it did in Germany. So you see calendars can change depending on who is in charge.

After the shock of the crucifixion and then seeing Jesus alive again, the disciples probably laid low trying to understand what comes next. The bible says the doors were locked against the Hierarchy. But being faithful Jews they probably did observe the Sabbath; it was, after all, their tradition. In time they felt the need for a different day to remember Jesus, to distinguish Christians from the Jews. So they chose Sunday; Sunday became the day of the resurrection, a day to gather to eat together, to pray and encourage one another.

Apparently the transfer from the Sabbath to an early form of the Eucharistic meal was a gradual process and depended largely on the location of the individual community. Research now shows that the Breaking of the Bread and the Prayers were common by the end of the first century. But it was not until the year 321 that the Sunday Eucharist was common to all churches of the Empire. And that was by law from our old friend Constantine.

Any celebration of what this man Jesus meant to his followers in Galilee and in Jerusalem had to be centered on his resurrection. Rome and the Temple Jews had nailed him to a cross until he was dead, but two days later he was alive again. So the question was how to make sense of his shameful death, his dramatic rising to life and his ascension to the Father.

That remembrance we call Easter.

Some Jewish Christians said Easter should be on the day after Passover, the day after the 15th of Nisan in the Jewish calendar. The establishment of Easter could only be settled after Sunday became the regular day for worship. It was well into the third century when Easter was finally placed on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after March 21. And there it sits today although some feel we should have a fixed, un moveable date

New Christians were baptized on the night before Easter Day, a time we call the Great Vigil of Easter. Preparation for baptism involved study of the scriptures and of the history and customs of the faith. So the students called catechumens were called to two days of fasting; later in time the fasting became one week and still later the church ruled that the preparation time should be 40 days. Today we call it Lent.

Now the Jews had a celebration some 50 days after Passover. It was the festival of Weeks, the harvesting of the first fruits of the season. The Christian calendar took that time, 50 days after Easter, used the Jewish name, Pentecost, and called the day a celebration of the coming of the Holy Spirit.

So the Easter cycle in our liturgical calendar begins with 40 days of Lent, concluding with Holy Week with the Vigil, then Easter Day and finally Pentecost.

So that makes up the Easter cycle, the continuum of days of purpose and remembrance, a part of the liturgical year.

We are, of course, in the midst of the Christmas season. Christmas, its four previous Sundays that we call Advent, and six days from today, the Epiphany with its following Sundays make up the other basic cycle of the church year. This is the Christmas cycle.

The Winter Solstice at the days of the early church was on January 6, a day of celebration for now the days will be longer. When the church settled on the date for Christmas, December 25, they adapted January 6th as the time of the coming of the Magi, Jesus’ baptism, and the wedding at Cana. So the Christmas cycle is Advent, Christmas, Epiphany and the Sundays that follow until Lent. These are the seasons of Christ’s origin and the beginning of God’s messenger on earth.

All other Sundays of the year are called Ordinary Time or Sundays after Pentecost.

So the liturgical year is organized to remember Jesus, his life and its meaning for us. Together, these seasons of Easter and Christmas are the Temporal cycle. The other collection of days of remembrance is the Sanctoral cycle, the calendar of people, of saints over time that we remember as being important to the faith – people like Paul, Peter, James, Stephen, and the man who gave his name to this parish, David of Wales, the Abbot of a monastery and a Bishop. Today there are also more modern names like Elizabeth Seton, Frederick Douglas, Oscar Romero and John Sebastian Bach; this is the Sanctoral cycle. We have a big book that has stories and prayers about these saints.

I have on occasion been asked why the church jams the story of Jesus into a few months of the year. They say, You have this beautiful Christmas story, the little baby born in a horse stall and then the baptism and the wonderful tale of Jesus making wine out of pure water at Cana, and then, in a few weeks, bang—ashes on the forehead, gloom and doom until the real gloom at Good Friday. But sunshine returns on Easter Day and the Holy Spirit takes over for Jesus, and that’s all the action for the year. The whole thing is over in four months. What’s the matter with the rest of the year?

Well, I think, if you can see the year as these two cycles of Christmas and Easter, of new hope with God’s son and his sacrifice for all of us, it makes sense of why the church over many years put the year together this way. It no longer seems jammed into four months, and the rest of the year can be used to communicate the stories of this man we follow.

In this third section of the great book of the prophet Isaiah, he speaks of the coming abundance and prosperity of Jerusalem. It has been a terrible set of years for Israel, occupied and physically destroyed by a series of oppressors and now, with the gift of Persia, the future is bright again. The initial verses are those of a human speaker authorized by Yahweh to transform emerging Judaism. In poetic expressions he calls for “a garland instead of ashes” and the “oil of greatness” to describe what lies ahead for the returning nation. Yahweh’s spirit will be over Israel.

I Thessalonians 5: 16-24

Paul concludes his letter with an appeal to live in peace and joy with the budding Christian community he has founded. It is most important, he says, for the people to be at prayer, to offer thanksgiving for the will and guidance that comes from the Lord. He implores his people to remain in what is good and reject evil in all they do. Finally he prays that the community may be “blameless” at the forthcoming of the Lord.

John I: 6-8 , 19-28

Today‘s gospel is part of the prologue, the theological core of a gospel quite different from the synodical tales of Jesus’ life. John is set to name, at the beginning, the overwhelming power and importance of this man who came from God to offer his own sacrifice, that we would be saved by him. John is clear that John the Baptist came to proclaim the coming of the “man of light.” It is the Baptist, John says, who announces the coming of the Lord. John the Baptist is calling people to repentance, to be baptized, to prepare for the coming of this most iconic figure, Jesus of Nazareth.